Snake Oil Alert: The "Tasty" 600 Km EV

Martin Schwoerer
by Martin Schwoerer

You know that something is a fad when A) it’s bubbling on the stock market or when B) snake-oil salesmen tout the newest revolution, and regular folks actually start believing them.We’re not quite there yet with “A)”, but check out what I call an exhibit for “B)”.

Tonight, a yellow, electrified Audi A2 will start a trip from Munich to Berlin: 600 kilometers (370+ miles). And here’s the banger: it won’t stop to re-charge, re-fuel, or re-gurgitate. Upon reaching Berlin tomorrow morning, German Federal Minister of the Economy Rainer Brüderle will meet the car and the press, for a photo op. If the journey is completed, it will break the world record for the longest EV trip on a single charge. Autobild reports that the German automakers are anxious to learn more about this amazing achievement in meetings after the political press conference… at least, as long as the stunt actually takes place.

Who’s behind all this? The main organizer is “lekker Energie”, a newish electric utility in Berlin. (Lekker, depending on whether you’re Dutch or German, means either “good” or “tasty”, or something else). They claim the car will be using a completely new battery technology that will solve all the range problems we associate with EVs.

Who makes the batteries? “A Berlin-based energy-storage systems company that is supported by the Federal Ministry of…” (you guessed it). They started converting the Audi six weeks ago, which means they are not only geniuses, but also mighty fast. The Lekker boys say the installed battery has an exceptional capacity of 115kWh. I say all this sounds fishy.

There is nothing new under the sun. You can expect battery capacity-per-weight-unit to expand by around 10% per decade, by incremental improvement. Maybe more. Don’t put your money or stake your rep on anything supposedly revolutionary. There is no way a small four-seater electric can do 600 KM non-stop with one set of batteries (with a $500k fuel cell system: yes, but that’s something else).

I won’t do a Werner Herzog, but I will donate €100 to a charity of TTAC’s choice if I’m wrong. Deal? We’ll keep you posted.

Martin Schwoerer
Martin Schwoerer

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  • Drivin98 Drivin98 on Oct 26, 2010

    So...what will it take to prove to you that you are wrong? Do we have to fly you to Germany or something? Totally not worth it. But anyway, you are wrong. Mistaken. Incorrect. As the other commenter pointed out, someone has gone farther in an EV. Probably slowly, but they went. The Mira has it's 75 kWh worth of Sanyo batteries very nicely installed in the floor. The Japan EV Club has great pictures of the install. You should check it out sometime. http://www.jevc.gr.jp/no-charge/fabrication.html

  • Martin schwoerer Martin schwoerer on Oct 27, 2010

    drvin98, the Mira is a good technology carrier, but the record-breaking drive was at speeds that were below what you can do on public roads. Concerning the Berlin run, you don't have to fly me to Germany, although I appreciate the offer. I'm already there, and a piece about what happened will be posted shortly.

  • Carson D At 1:24 AM, the voyage data recorder (VDR) stopped recording the vessel’s system data, but it was able to continue taping audio. At 1:26 AM, the VDR resumed recording vessel system data. Three minutes later, the Dali collided with the bridge. Nothing suspicious at all. Let's go get some booster shots!
  • Darren Mertz Where's the heater control? Where's the Radio control? Where the bloody speedometer?? In a menu I suppose. How safe is that??? Volvo....
  • Lorenzo Are they calling it a K4? That's a mountain in the Himalayas! Stick with names!
  • MaintenanceCosts It's going to have to go downmarket a bit not to step on the Land Cruiser's toes.
  • Lorenzo Since EVs don't come in for oil changes, their owners don't have their tires rotated regularly, something the dealers would have done. That's the biggest reason they need to buy a new set of tires sooner, not that EVs wear out tires appreciably faster.
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